“Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3
Introducing the next Girls in God’s Word Study! My Journey Toward Jesus: Becoming more Christlike in a “me-like” world.
We are not our own. Yes, culture tells us we are our own. It tells us to wave picket signs and yell to make our point heard. It says we are right– that is unless it disagrees with us.
While we may not be out rioting, how is our hearts? As I dove into this study I felt God pricking my heart in ways I didn’t know it needed pricked. I remember attending a marriage conference a year ago and one statement really stuck out to me. He made this point: culture will seep into us one way or another. We may not think it is, but it is.
As I wrote this study, I had to ask myself that question over and over. How is culture’s thinking affecting my journey toward Christ? Is there anything I am blind to because culture says I deserve….? Is there any selfishness because culture says “you are right, your voice matters.” Am I clinging too tightly to my opinions because culture says I need to look out for myself over others?
We are sheep in God’s pasture and we are cared for deeply by the One true King. Our thoughts do matter to Him, but He asks us to handle them a bit different than culture says to. The truth is, sheep are dumb and need extra care. God cares for us through His Spirit inside us, His Words in the Bible, and the people He places around us. He looks out for danger using these same methods.
As I dove into this study a few themes kept popping out at me: prefer others over yourself, love others, trust God over man, be humble, submit to authority, pursue the things Christ did, be thankful. Grow.
My daughter teaches me a lot about my Christian walk. Many of the lessons that flow from my mouth to her ears make me pause a bit and ponder how to apply this truth to my own life. It is as if I need to hear it more than her. One thing I frequently ask her is this: “Do you trust mommy?” “Yes.” I then proceed to tell her: “there are things you may not understand, but mommy does”. I remind her that I have her best interest in mind and know what could harm her as well as help her. I tell her that she may have to do things that don’t always make sense to her, simply because mommy has a better understanding of life than her. Then I tell her, the Bible is my basis for life. I trust that God knows the best way for me to live and He has told me how in the Bible.
-
- Many of the principles we read don’t always make sense in our human minds.
-
- It doesn’t make sense to pray for those who use us, we would rather retaliate.
-
- It doesn’t make sense to whittle down our army to basically nothing (Gideon) before fighting.
-
- It doesn’t make sense to esteem someone else higher than ourselves– we care about our own needs and desires quite a bit.
- It doesn’t make sense to tell the truth when lying could get us out of short term consequences.
Quite frankly most of the principles for a Christian walk, don’t make sense. But I have found, when I do the things that don’t make sense, my inner peace grows. When I rely on God’s strength, not my own, my resolve grows. When I view my identity as a child of God rather than measuring success in the terms of other men, my confidence grows. I have found when I am all in for Christ the things that don’t make sense, somehow make sense. God’s ways don’t make sense to our limited understanding. But when we choose to focus on them instead of our own ways, slowly they do begin to make sense. Are you ready to do the things that don’t make sense so God can lead your journey in unimaginable ways? We are not our own, we are the sheep of His pasture. Let’s be so thankful that we don’t have to figure it all out! The One who holds the whole earth holds us too!
I am excited to announce the Next Girl’s In God’s Word for Hello Jesus Company. The study is Titled: My Journey Toward Jesus | Becoming more Christlike in a world that says become more “me-like”. This is a 7 week study that will dive into what our journey toward Christ looks like. We will learn about how our individual journey is ultimately for God and how as believers we can join hand and hand to all run toward Him alone.
The outline is as follows:
Week 1- Our journey is all about God! He is the creator, author and finisher.
Week 2- Each of our journeys are different, learning to align our hearts with God’s to grow in oneness.
Week 3- Is it God or me?
Week 4-Self Sacrifice–Surrendering all to God.
Week 5- God is our ultimate authority, He is our Shepherd the one to look to, but He also places authority over us in this life.
Week 6- Milk, Meat, and Doctrine, Growing in our Walk.
Week 7-Bring and radiate the fulness of Christ everywhere you go.
If you would like to join us for this next study simply join the mailing list. The journey study will go out Monday December 31st! Check your email to download it then! The reading plans will always be free, however the in depth study requires many hours to complete. Right now, it will be on a donation basis. If the expenses incurred in making the study is met, the indepth studies will remain free. If it is short, the indepth studies may be moved to a paid version. You can donate to the indepth study from this page.
